Hall of Famer Rod Woodson stumped on Davis' behalf after the 15 finalists were revealed, but Davis seems to understand why his waiting game continues.

"You look at that list of 25, and it's hard," he said, via The Denver Post. "I'm looking at this list of names and I say, 'How do you justify this player not making it?' We're emotionally attached to some of the names you see there when you see guys like Steve Atwater and (Karl) Mecklenburg and myself and you say, 'I know what these guys have done.' But then you look at these other guys and you really can't feel good about saying these guys deserve it more than these guys.

"I've said this every year: I'm blessed to even be in the conversation. Do I sit there every year and say, 'Man, maybe this is the year?' Yeah, I'm human. But I don't lose sleep the other 364 days of the year."

From 1995 to 1998, Davis put together one of the best stretches by a running back in NFL history, winning an NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP and two Super Bowl rings. His high point came in 1998, when he became the fourth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

But a knee injury derailed his career, making him one of the game's great "What ifs." You can study the complete list of finalists for the Class of 2014 right here.